Nick and I used to watch Ben Fogle flying all over the world to these remote spots for his TV Programme New Lives in the Wild. I used to feel so smug:
Off Grid – tick ; Remote location – tick; Wild animals on our doorstep – tick; Challenging environment – tick; Peace and quiet – tick; Helping the environment – tick; living in a tent – tick, living in a thatched house – tick…..and so on,
I had no regrets I had spent over ten years living in Zimbabwe and Zambia, first with Voluntary Service Overseas and then married to Nick running safari big game areas. We had managed Luambe National Park, a big game are on the Zambezi River in Zambia. Then we had managed Chishakwe Ranch in the Save Valley Conservancy before a final stint on our family ranch near Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.
When the pandemic hit I was caring for my Dad until he died and then we went into lockdown again. We had alot of time to think and re-evaluate our life. We had been running our own business on the Isle of Wight for ten years making Biltong. We had finished renovating a gorgeous Victorian Villa in Seaview and life was easy.
Ben Fogle started a new series, except this time he was visiting people in the UK. This time I did not feel so smug. We were living in a village crammed with houses, we were warm with lovely gas central heating, a wood burner, lights that always worked, beautifully decorated, we were doing nothing to help the environment, the wildlife I could see out of my window was a few birds, mainly seagulls and doves. I was 50, I still had a life ahead of me. It needed to be more fulfilling and closer to nature.
January 2021 and we realised we needed a change. In 2002 we had made a choice to go back to Africa and not go North to Scotland. In my interim three years between my two African lives I had escaped to Scotland in as many school holidays as I could manage, my favourite place was Glen Affric. After many hours online a plan was hatched. In May we visited The Highlands and looked at five properties as close to Alladale as we could find. The one which we called Red Flags as there seemed to be many insurmountable challenges involved was THE ONE!
We sold our business to a local beef farmer, sold our house to a family wanting to live in Seaview and drove overnight to Muie Croft ahead of our removal van, in September. The challenges were back and so was living as close to nature as is possible.
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